Gracie the giraffe, a towering resident of Cedar Hollow Ranch in the Texas Hill Country, has finally been found after nearly two weeks on the loose. The 3-year-old reticulated giraffe was spotted Friday morning about four miles south of her enclosure during an aerial search, ending a search that captured the attention of people across Texas and beyond.
The giraffe was located around 6:45 a.m. on a neighboring property near Regan Wells with help from aviation crews, according to Real County Sheriff Nathan Johnson. She was found on private land in an area with abundant vegetation and water sources—conditions that allowed her to thrive during her time away from the ranch.
Gracie arrived at Cedar Hollow Ranch in May and weighed at least 1,200 pounds. The incident unfolded when she wandered into a rocky, unfenced area of the property where she had been feeding on trees growing from the rocks. The ranch owner, Vick Jones, explained that she came down on the wrong side of an eight-foot-tall gate and continued walking in the same direction, finding it easier to keep going than to turn back.
The original escape occurred on June 12 when Gracie ventured into terrain that the ranch’s other giraffes had never frequented. Jones said he believed the giraffe did not mean to leave the property, but once she had passed the gate, she ended up in the surrounding brushy Hill Country landscape. Last spotted on a game camera west of Leakey, roughly 100 miles northwest of San Antonio, Gracie had eluded searchers despite intensive efforts.
The search quickly became a major operation. Jones initially deployed helicopters to scour approximately 7,500 acres with no initial success. Residents of Real County, which has a population of about 2,700, were alerted to keep watch for the missing animal. The ranch offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to Gracie’s safe return.
When found, Gracie appeared to be in excellent health. “She’s in good shape,” Jones said. “She’s standing there, swishing her tail.” She was discovered within a half-mile of a pond and creek and appeared to have been in that area for about a week, feeding on the abundant local vegetation.
Sheriff Johnson expressed relief at the discovery, stating that Gracie appeared “fat and happy.” He added with humor that she had “a catch me if you can sucker’s attitude.” Despite the giraffe’s impressive size, standing nearly 10 feet tall, Jones noted that she posed no threat to people and would flee if anyone approached.
Now comes the challenging part of bringing Gracie home. Veterinarians will need to sedate the giraffe and place a hood over her eyes to keep her calm. She will then be moved from an open-pasture trailer to a specialized enclosed trailer designed for giraffes for the trip back to the ranch. The remote terrain in parts of the search area cannot be reached by vehicle, which had made the initial search by helicopter necessary.
Jones said he plans to install a fence in the unfenced area where Gracie escaped, and the giraffe will remain in the ranch’s enclosed giraffe enclosure until the new barrier is complete.
Cedar Hollow Ranch is home to several hundred exotic animals and has housed giraffes for more than three decades. The Texas Hill Country boasts one of the largest concentrations of exotic captive animals in the United States, according to authorities. The region’s mild climate and rugged terrain make it somewhat similar to the animals’ native African habitats.
Sheriff Johnson noted that this was his first experience with a missing giraffe, though he has responded to reports of other escaped exotic animals over the years. “I’ve had wildebeests, I’ve had water buffalo, I’ve had monkeys, I’ve had zebras, all go missing,” Johnson said. “Sometimes we recover them, and sometimes we don’t.”
Gracie’s story captured widespread attention after Jones posted about her disappearance on local social media. The post quickly went viral, and she became the subject of countless AI-generated images and memes before the happy ending was found. Now that she has been located safe and healthy, the focus turns to her safe return to the ranch and the preventive measures Jones plans to implement.